


Manservants are Supposed to Take Care of Their Kings, Not the Other Way Around

by poppycurls



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Canon Era, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-03
Updated: 2014-09-03
Packaged: 2018-02-16 00:44:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2249553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poppycurls/pseuds/poppycurls
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur peered into the next room, an abandoned room that wasn’t really used for anything but storage, and his heart nearly stopped. The room was a mess. Parts of the ceiling were caved in, and the content of the room was all thrown about. And there, on the floor, was a very familiar red neckerchief, with it’s owner lying very still near it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Manservants are Supposed to Take Care of Their Kings, Not the Other Way Around

Arthur Pendragon was pissed. He did, however, have every right to be; Camelot had, until very recently, been under attack. The knights had done a very good job in defeating the group of travelers threatening Camelot's walls, and Arthur was extremely proud of them, but now all he wanted to do was sort out a couple of issues and then head off to a great night’s sleep. But his idiot of a manservant had decided not to show up the entire fight, and still was nowhere to be found. So, this left Arthur pacing the castle corridors, looking for the raven-haired boy.

And then Sir Leon was there. “Sire…” He began, looking just as tired as Arthur felt.

“Yes? What is it? Did something happen?”

“It appears we have been tricked, Sire.”

“How so?”

“The travelers were a distraction. Somebody got into the castle, and this somebody was a sorcerer.”

Arthur let out of string of curse words before thinking that for a kingdom that banned sorcery, things like this seemed to happen an awful lot. “Is he still here? What does he want?”

Leon shook his head, almost apologetically. “Gone. And, as far as I know, he was driven off by some of the knights that didn’t fight before any serious damage happened.”

“Thank you for notifying me of this,” Arthur nodded, dismissing Leon, because as much as this news was disturbing, he didn’t really care. He just wanted sleep. This could be dealt with in the morning. He, too, had gone out to fight with the knights, and the escapade left him utterly exhausted and very, very annoyed. Where the hell was Merlin?

Heading down another passageway, Arthur walked a bit further, stopping people on the way to ask if they had seen his manservant, deciding that if he couldn’t find Merlin soon, he would just head off to bed and hope that he showed up somewhere the next morning.

Well, that didn’t happen. It never works out quite that simply.

Arthur peered into the next room, an abandoned room that wasn’t really used for anything but storage, and his heart nearly stopped. The room was a mess. Parts of the ceiling were caved in, and the content of the room was all thrown about. And there, on the floor, was a very familiar red neckerchief, with it’s owner lying very still near it.

And that’s when Arthur Pendragon broke. His world seemed to tilt- no, wait, he was tilting, stumbling as he started running over to Merlin, scanning the thin body for a rise of the chest to see if he was still alive. As he got closer, his vision swimming a bit, he dropped to his hands and knees, eventually pulling himself into a sitting position next to his manservant. There were streaks of blood running down Merlin's face, starting somewhere in the roots of his black hair, but his chest was rising and falling steadily. Merlin wasn’t hurt that badly.

Arthur sighed in relief, leaning against the wall next to his friend. No wonder Merlin never showed up. How long had Merlin been lying there, with nobody looking out for him or looking for him? Feeling immensely guilty, Arthur reached over and gently lifted his manservant’s head into his own lap, positioning the man’s body so that it rested comfortably. Arthur started to card is finger’s through Merlin’s hair, minding not to hurt him, and closed his eyes, finally relaxing for the first time since he entered the room. He really needed some sleep.

The two of them sat there for a while, or, rather, Arthur sat while Merlin lay unconscious, until Arthur was woken from his short-lived rest by a fidgeting in his lap.

Arthur looked down at Merlin, who was suddenly still again. His eyelids were fluttering, through, and after a couple of heartbeats, Merlin let out a small groan. The king’s personal servant reached out a hand to push himself up of the ground, but the king himself carefully pushed him back down again.

After a couple of seconds of Merlin glancing around to gather his surroundings, he spoke up, his voice a little hoarse.  “Arthur? What are you doing here? What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Bright eyes gazed into Arthur’s face, checking for any signs of injury.

“I think the real question is, Merlin, are you okay? And what are you doing here?”

“I’m fine,” Merlin said, managing a cheeky grin at Arthur. “Always am, always will be.”

Arthur let out a breath which he didn’t even realize he was holding. “You’re an idiot, that’s what you are. What happened?”

“The usual. I got thrown into a wall. Again. This time must have been a little bit harder than usual.”

“Again?” Arthur’s voice rose a couple of octaves.

“Well, yeah.”

“How many times have you been thrown into a wall?”

“You’d be surprised.” Merlin gave a dark chuckle.

Arthur sighed, then wrapped his arms around his manservant’s middle, pulling them both up into a standing position and letting Merlin lean heavily on him. “Are you alright? Really, though. Don’t lie to me.”

“I’m fine, you prat, I really am. Like I said, I get thrown into walls a lot. One gets used to it.”

“Why?”

“There was the sorcerer. The knights lost track of him, and found him in here. You know, for people who have magic, they really like lifting people up and tossing them.”

The king nodded, remembering all the times that he had a run-in with a person with magic, and their tendencies to blast people into the nearest wall. “You know, you could have not interfered, and we would never have this problem.”

“Yeah, well, I couldn’t just sit by and do nothing.”

“You’re a huge, huge idiot, you know that?”

“Mmhmm.” Merlin pressed his body closer to Arthur’s.

Camelot’s crowned king lifted his servant’s arm and placed it around his shoulders, supporting Merlin. “Come on, let’s go.”

“Where to?”

“Gaius.”

“But, I’m fine. I told you.”

“Whatever you say, Merlin.” Despite his worry, Arthur rolled his eyes, and the two of them stated to walk out of the room.

However, their banter ceased a bit as they made the trek over to Gaius’s chamber’s. Even though Merlin could have easily bounced up and immediately got back on his feet, because that’s what Merlin always did, he was letting his facade down for the time being. Arthur kept glancing over at his friend’s bowed head and half-closed eyes worriedly.

By the time the duo made it to the court physician’s chambers, Merlin looked exhausted. Arthur practically had to drag him through the entryway, simultaneously shouting Gaius’s name.

“He’s not here, Arthur,” Merlin said, not lifting his head up. Those were the first words he had spoken since they left.

“When will he be back?”

“I don’t know.”

Arthur considered his options, then headed over to Merlin’s bedroom, elbowing the door open. They went over to the unmade bed, Arthur helping his manservant lay down. Merlin said nothing, just rolled into a more comfortable position.

The king gave his famous ‘Merlin you idiot’ sigh, and then reached over and pulled the blankets up and over his friend. He got a mumbled ‘thanks’ in return.

Arthur turned toward the door. “I'm going now, okay?”

“Good.”

Arthur grinned, then headed back towards the main part of the castle.

When he reached a hallway that had an open wall, overlooking the kingdom, he stopped and leaned over the rail. There he waited, until he saw Gaius hurrying back to his chambers. He waited a bit longer, just in case the physician came hurrying out in a panic. When he didn’t, Arthur was able to breath easier, and finally headed of to his chambers for a well-earned sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello hello hello.
> 
> Merlin and Arthur are cuties. That is all.
> 
> Also, if you are Katie, hi, and also please throw out your own banana peels.
> 
> Please comment and/or kudo! Unless you didn't like it. Then you don't have to.
> 
> As always, TTFN!


End file.
